“Invisibility of care work should not be considered incidental or accidental. It is structural, and this is a key feminist issue that has been raised by feminist economists worldwide for generations. We have long argued that economic systems depend on this hidden labour and on making care work invisible.”
- Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya. –
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya emphasized that care work is central to the functioning of economies and societies and should no longer be treated as a peripheral issue, while addressing the inaugural session of The South-4-Care Learning Hub: Advancing Decent Work in the Care Economy in South Asia, held on April 21 in Colombo.
The four-day regional programme, taking place from April 21 to 24, brings together countries across South Asia for a South-South knowledge exchange and capacity-building initiative organized by the International Labour Organization (ILO), in partnership with the World Bank Group, and in collaboration with the International Training Centre of the ILO (ITCILO). The Learning Hub serves as a regional platform for South-South and Triangular Cooperation, enabling countries at different stages of development to exchange experiences, strengthen capacities, and identify pathways towards building gender-responsive and resilient economies.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister stated that “the care issue, the care economy, is no longer a peripheral issue. It is central to how our economies function and how our societies sustain themselves,” emphasizing that care work, whether domestic work, childcare, elder care, or community support, forms the foundation upon which both formal and informal economies are built. She noted that care work is not simply about providing childcare services, elder care services, or strengthening social protection frameworks, but about recognising how care work, especially unpaid care work, sustains the economy itself.
She further noted that unpaid care responsibilities remain one of the most significant barriers to women’s labour force participation and stressed the need to move beyond defining productive work only in terms of paid labour.
“It is important that women have the choice whether to work in the labour force or not, but we also have to recognise that the unpaid work they do in sustaining families and communities eventually sustains our economy. That is one of the most important factors in the economy which does not get recognised and does not get value,” she stated. She further stressed that “we need to move beyond those categories where productive work is defined only in terms of paid work and really recognise unpaid care work as also productive.”
Prime Minister Dr. Amarasuriya pointed out that Sri Lanka presents a unique context in examining the care economy, where girls perform strongly in education while women continue to face high rates of domestic violence, heavy care burdens, and withdrawal from the labour force due to unpaid responsibilities. She emphasized that this requires a fundamental rethinking of how labour, productivity, and economic contribution are defined, particularly in relation to women’s participation in both informal and unpaid sectors.
“Labour force participation is not simply about productivity, it is about access to opportunity, dignity and inclusion,” she said, adding that no form of work, whether paid or unpaid, formal or informal, should remain invisible, undervalued, or underprotected. She further stated that care work is not only an economic issue but also an intergenerational one, shaping human capital through its impact on education, health, and wellbeing.
She noted that the Government of Sri Lanka, through the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, is currently engaging with relevant stakeholders to develop a national policy on unpaid care work. This consultative process aims to recognise and value unpaid care work as a vital contribution to national development, reduce the disproportionate burden on women and girls through accessible public services and social protection, promote equitable redistribution of care responsibilities across households, communities, the state, and the private sector, and transform the social norms and gender stereotypes that continue to assign care work primarily to women.
The ILO also highlighted that care work both paid and unpaid is essential to the functioning of societies and economies, enabling labour market participation, supporting families and communities, and underpinning productivity and economic growth. However, across South Asia, care work remains undervalued and unevenly distributed, with women bearing a disproportionate share, while limited access to affordable and quality care services continues to deepen gender inequalities.
Recognizing these challenges, the ILO adopted the Resolution concerning Decent Work and the Care Economy, affirming care as vital labour market infrastructure and calling for coordinated action to ensure access to quality care services while improving working conditions, rights, and protections for care workers.
The Prime Minister expressed confidence that the discussions over the coming days would generate meaningful insights and actionable recommendations to strengthen care systems across South Asia.
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